Road Destroyed by Landslide Reopens
More than five years after a devastating landslide, LaConchita residents can finally move more easily through their community.
On Thursday, two dozen residents joined Supervisor Kathy Long to reopen Vista Del Rincon Drive, which had been blocked since a March 4, 1995, landslide destroyed nine homes and buried part of the roadway in 18 feet of mud.
“I was here,” resident Ernie Garcia said. “I was watching it. It was quiet until the trees started cracking.”
A lack of funding and building materials prolonged the repairs, but most residents were happy to have the road back.
Long had barely finished her speech when some residents called out requests for speed bumps and no-parking signs.
The $450,000 project, which was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will divert mud runoff during rainstorms but will not withstand another landslide, Long said.
Despite risks posed by the unstable hillsides, residents said they enjoy the beauty of the neighborhood.
“We cross our fingers every time we go out of the area,” said Velma Colton.
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